A hybrid micromixer with planar mixing units

Bazaz, SR; Mehrizi, AA; Ghorbani, S; Vasilescu, S; Asadnia, M; Warkiani, ME

A hybrid micromixer with planar mixing units

Bazaz, SR Mehrizi, AA Ghorbani, S Vasilescu, S Asadnia, M

Warkiani, ME

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: RSC Advances, 2018, 8 (58), pp. 33103 - 33120
Issue Date:: 2018-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Bazaz, SR	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mehrizi, AA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ghorbani, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Vasilescu, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Asadnia, M https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3157-7796	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Warkiani, ME https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4184-1944	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	RSC Advances, 2018, 8 (58), pp. 33103 - 33120	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128761
dc.description.abstract	© The Royal Society of Chemistry. The application of microfluidic systems in chemical and biological assays has progressed dramatically in recent years. One of the fundamental operations that microfluidic devices must achieve is a high mixing index. Of particular importance is the role of planar mixing units with repetitive obstacles (MURO) in the formation of micromixers. To date, a myriad of planar passive micromixers has been proposed. However, a strategy for the combination of these units to find an efficient planar mixer has not been investigated. As such, five different MURO have been selected to form a “hybrid micromixer,” and their combination was evaluated via numerical and experimental methods. These mixing units include ellipse-like, Tesla, nozzle and pillar, teardrop, and obstruction in a curved mixing unit. Since these units have distinctive dimensions, dynamic and geometric similarities were used to scale and connect them. Afterwards, six slots were designated to house each mixing unit. Since the evaluation of all possible unit configurations is not feasible, the design of experiment method is applied to reduce the total number of experiments from 15 625 to 25. Following this procedure, the “hybrid” micromixer proposed here, comprising Tesla, nozzle and pillar, and obstruction units, shows improved performance for a wide range of Re (i.e., mixing index of >90% for Re 0.001-0.1, 22-45) over existing designs. The use of velocity profiles, concentration diagrams, vorticity and circulation plots assist in the analysis of each unit. Comparison of the proposed “hybrid” micromixer with other obstacle-based planar micromixers demonstrates improved performance, indicating the combination of planar mixing units is a useful strategy for building high-performance micromixers.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	RSC Advances	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1039/C8RA05763J	en_US
dc.title	A hybrid micromixer with planar mixing units	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	58	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	8	en_US
utslib.for	0904 Chemical Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	03 Chemical Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Biomedical Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHT - Health Technologies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - IBMD - Initiative for Biomedical Devices
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	58	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	8	en_US

Abstract:

© The Royal Society of Chemistry. The application of microfluidic systems in chemical and biological assays has progressed dramatically in recent years. One of the fundamental operations that microfluidic devices must achieve is a high mixing index. Of particular importance is the role of planar mixing units with repetitive obstacles (MURO) in the formation of micromixers. To date, a myriad of planar passive micromixers has been proposed. However, a strategy for the combination of these units to find an efficient planar mixer has not been investigated. As such, five different MURO have been selected to form a “hybrid micromixer,” and their combination was evaluated via numerical and experimental methods. These mixing units include ellipse-like, Tesla, nozzle and pillar, teardrop, and obstruction in a curved mixing unit. Since these units have distinctive dimensions, dynamic and geometric similarities were used to scale and connect them. Afterwards, six slots were designated to house each mixing unit. Since the evaluation of all possible unit configurations is not feasible, the design of experiment method is applied to reduce the total number of experiments from 15 625 to 25. Following this procedure, the “hybrid” micromixer proposed here, comprising Tesla, nozzle and pillar, and obstruction units, shows improved performance for a wide range of Re (i.e., mixing index of >90% for Re 0.001-0.1, 22-45) over existing designs. The use of velocity profiles, concentration diagrams, vorticity and circulation plots assist in the analysis of each unit. Comparison of the proposed “hybrid” micromixer with other obstacle-based planar micromixers demonstrates improved performance, indicating the combination of planar mixing units is a useful strategy for building high-performance micromixers.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128761